Departure
by forgetcanon
Summary: "Agent Serrete is a good man, but that's precisely why he couldn't know," Bastila said. "Aside from that, I've been... out of contact. Surely you've noticed how Jedi are hunted wherever they go." The Jedi Exile has three conversation before she leaves Citadel Station. (Past FemExile/FemRevan, Bastila/FemRevan, Carth/FemRevan)


Bao-Dur looked a little scuffed, but not wounded. Distantly, Tiniat registered the oddity of looking _down_ slightly to talk to him while Remote transmitted his words.

"General," he said said. "HK-47 appears to have completely wiped out the factory. I'll have more details in person, but none of the HK-50s are going to bother us for quite some time."

Tiniat nodded, taking another long drink of caffa. She'd been staving off collapse since defeating Darth Nihilus, but there was still too much to be done for her to sleep just yet. At least knowing that HK-47's mission was completed without a hitch scratched one item off that list.

"And your task?" Tiniat asked.

Bao-Dur nodded. "I've gotten what I needed. HK-47 is returning to the Academy to retrieve me. We will be on Citadel Station in roughly four hours."

And that was another item off the list. "Good work. Get some rest."

Bao-Dur's eyes crinkled with amusement. "You first, general."

"See you soon, Bao-Dur," Tiniat said, closing the transmission.

She took a moment to lean on the bulkhead. Nihilus had tried to drain her, the way Kreia- Traya- had used her to drain the council. Great portions of her arms were wrapped in bandage and numb, and those were perhaps the only parts of her that didn't hurt.

The painkilling effect of Kolto only applied to what it directly touched. Though she'd long ago wiped the blood from her nose away, her head still pounded. Now that she leaned, she realized what an effort it was to stand.

She stood straight, wiped the exhaustion from her face, and left the communications room.

"Atton," she said. He was doing a poor job of pretending not to wait for her. "I want the ship refueled and restocked. We're taking 12 hours to rest and recoup, then we're headed out."

"Malachor?" Atton asked.

Tiniat nodded. "Kreia will wait for me, but she won't wait long. Where are the others?"

Atton shrugged. "Mira's helping out the mandies, mostly getting them off the station before the TSF wonders where a few hundred Mandalorians came from. Kiddo and Visas headed for medical. I think the Ha- I think Brianna went with them. T3's in the engine room checking everything, G0-T0's around somewhere, and who knows where the hell Mandalore is."

"Raise them on the commlinks, get them back here. I want everyone rested and ready as much as we can be before we leave."

"Does that include you?" Atton asked, raising an eyebrow. "You look dead on your feet, Tin."

"I'll sleep when everyone's-"

Her commlink chirped. Atton rolled his eyes as she answered it without bothering to finish her excuse.

"This is Soleria."

"This is Grenn," the lieutenant replied. "Are you busy?"

"Not at the moment," Tiniat said. "If you would like me to do any bounty hunting, I need to remind you that I just saved your damn station."

"You did," Grenn sighed. "You did. I would like to thank you in person for that. But that's not why I called. Admiral Onasi would like to speak with you, ma'am."

Atton's eyebrows rose. "Think you'll be getting a medal?"

"I hope so," Tiniat muttered away from her commlink. She put her mouth back to it. "What about?"

"'A mutual acquaintance,' is how he phrased it. The TSF's established a base in entertainment block 081, you should find him there."

"Thank you, Grenn." She started towards the gangway. "I might not get the chance to see you in person before I leave, but I'd like to take back my comments about the TSF when I arrived. You're a better man than you get credit for."

Grenn snorted. "That's not saying much, Exile. Thank you. And on behalf of Telos, thank you for everything you've done."

"Soleria out." She closed her commlink. She turned to Atton. "Make sure everyone gets back here sooner rather than later. I better see what Onasi wants."

"The mutual acquaintance," Atton said. "There's only a few people who that could be."

"Revan," Tiniat confirmed. _Tess_. Her former friend, lover, and destroyer. Tiniat found herself settling a hand on her old lightsaber. Tess had helped her to construct it. She'd offered advice on how to make it as devastating as possible between sweet kisses.

Atton's eyes followed the movement. "Right. I'll get on the comms, unless you need my help with... anything."

"No," Tiniat said. "Comms. I'll see what Onasi wants."

* * *

><p>Admiral Onasi had reclaimed the Entertainment blocks in the name of the Republic troops and was now coordinating repair efforts for the fleet from the lower levels of a hotel. Tiniat stood back with his PA and watched him work.<p>

As he discussed the rotating shifts for repairs, he listened closely to what people had to say and took it all into consideration before he issued his commands.

Even his orders left leeway, many of them simply being along the lines of, "Ask such-and-so if they can take another ship. If not, ask such-and-so, and if they don't have space, tell them to make some." He trusted the people in his command to know what they were doing and to be able to get the job done without his interference.

A position that could be dangerous, Tiniat thought. She wondered how he handled inefficient underlings. Going by the fact that he had risen to Admiral and the way his underlings paid close attention to his orders, probably not very softly.

His PA approached when Onasi turned away to take a break. "Admiral, the Exile is here," the Twi'lek said.

Onasi looked up. "Thank you, Dira." He left the table and his PA stepped in to help coordinate. When he met her eyes, Onasi's gaze was sharp despite his exhaustion. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Mind if I eat while we talk?"

Tiniat's stomach rumbled. "Only if I can eat, too."

"It's been that kind of day." Onasi lead her to an unofficial republic recaffeination station, the kind that always seemed to crop up around command centers. They filled flimsy plates with stale pastries and then Onasi lead her upstairs, to a private room.

Tiniat sensed someone inside before Onasi opened the door. A force-user. Onasi must have noticed her stiffen.

"Sorry I didn't warn you," Onasi said quietly. "But her presence here isn't widely known. Including you and I, it's about four people on the whole station."

Onasi keyed open the door. Bastila Shan was standing in front of the room's only desk.

Shan looked just as tired as the rest of them. Gone were the Jedi robes, replaced with worn spacer gear. The many ponytails were gone as well, in favor of a single, smooth bun. The lightsaber lay in pieces before her.

_She didn't join us that day, but in time, she came around to our way of thinking._

Tiniat didn't relax. "I was under the impression that the Republic couldn't find any Jedi."

"Agent Serrete is a good man, but that's precisely why he couldn't know," Bastila said. "Aside from that, I've been... out of contact. Surely you've noticed how Jedi are hunted wherever they go."

Onasi moved around Tiniat to stand at Bastila's side and set down his plate. He didn't eat. Neither did he sit down. "Mical's been keeping me up to date. You've had your own problems. We didn't want to compound them by making you a bigger target."

Tiniat had fought her way through a dead ship earlier that day and killed a Sith lord who could devour planets. She had left any desire for diplomacy back on the Ebon Hawk. "And if the Sith assassins were to get lucky, you would still have a spare Jedi."

Bastila's grey eyes went flint-like. "If that's how you'd like to see things, I can't do much to change your mind. While I was busy doing my best to keep myself alive, you managed to find and warn us about the Sith Lord threatening the Jedi- for that, you have my gratitude."

"Not one Sith Lord." Tiniat crossed to the desk and set down her own untouched plate. "There were three. Now, there are two."

Bastila's eyebrows twitched in surprise. "There are two more of those... those _things_?"

Tiniat shook her head. Despite the gravity of the conversation and her frustration at finding another completely useless Jedi had been hiding instead of helping, she really _was_ hungry. She selected some kind of bread square and sat on the bed, crossing her legs. "Yes. In about twelve hours, I'm going to be leaving to fight them, too." She took a big bite. Stale. She wished she'd thought to grab some caffa.

Onasi and Shan had a silent conversation with their eyes while she chewed.

"Listen," Onasi finally said. "Your ship, the Ebon Hawk. Do you know its history?"

"It has a long one," Tiniat said dryly. "But I know Revan used it most recently. It even came with her droids. They had messages from both of you."

"But not Vasha herself," Shan said quietly. She sat heavily in the chair matched to the desk. Carth took his plate to one of the room's armchairs.

"I'm afraid not," Tiniat confirmed. "I assume 'Vasha' is what Tess calls herself nowadays?"

"It's her name," Onasi said defensively. "But listen, the navicom-"

"It's locked," Tiniat interrupted. The hope in his eyes was painful. She found herself looking over his shoulder instead of meeting his gaze. "Voicelocked. Probably by Revan herself. Knowing her, any attempt to tamper with it will just wipe it clean, and I happen to need the Ebon Hawk operational at the moment."

"Her droids," Shan tried. "I assume one of them is a utility droid? T3-M4? Did it have any messages from her?"

Tiniat shook her head. "None that it shared with me, and it shared quite a bit with me. T3 seems to be operating under orders from you-" She nodded at Onasi. "-to return to the galaxy and find someone who could help her. Its memory banks after that recording are wiped clean."

"And the other? HK-47?" Onasi asked.

Tiniat shook her head. "Its memory banks are even worse off, and it's... temperamental on top of that."

Shan's mouth twitched in amusement. "That is an understatement."

Tiniat leaned forward and reached for another pastry. The bandages on her arms ached in protest.

Bastila nudged the plate closer. Without the hope that fueled her questioning or the frustration that followed when Tiniat was unhelpful, all that was left was exhaustion. "Truth be told... I was hoping you would know more. Perhaps even that she had found you herself."

Tiniat shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen her since..."

"Malachor," Carth finished. He sighed. "The last thing she said to me- the last message she left for me- was to tell me to _keep the Republic strong_... I'm sorry. I meant to thank you, but all we've been doing is grilling you for information. You saved my homeworld today, you know."

_I can't lose her, even if she wants to be lost._

"It was a beautiful planet, once," Tiniat said. "I've been to the surface- it could be again."

"And I owe you, for making that a possibility."

Bastila straightened suddenly. "You said the navicomputer was voice locked?"

Tiniat nodded.

"And you have HK-47 with you?"

"Not at the moment," Tiniat said slowly. "But he'll be returning shortly."

Onasi seemed to catch Shan's train of thought. "HK-47 can emulate voices. Assuming he remembers Vasha's-?" He looked at Tiniat.

"He remembered yours," Tiniat hedged. "And Bastila's. Do you know what the code would be?"

"It wouldn't take long to guess," Bastila said dismissively. "If Vasha intended for us to be able to follow her, it's something we know."

"And if she didn't?" Tiniat asked. "If you end up triggering one of her traps and wiping my ship clean?"

Onasi hesitated. "The Republic can loan you a ship."

Tiniat took a long look at two of them. Tess's lovers always had such faith in her, until she betrayed them.

But what Tiniat knew was this: Revan had left the galaxy in that ship. Kreia had gotten hold of it. Revan was Kreia's student, perhaps more than Tiniat had ever been herself.

Revan had been attempting to strengthen the Republic through war before falling to Alek's- Malak's hands. She had found something in the outer reaches of the galaxy that scared her enough that she was driven to it, and then she left to find it again.

If these two well meaning fools brought their lover back to the galaxy with everything she had found out there, Tiniat would be extremely cross.

"No," Tiniat said. "In eleven hours, I'm going to leave. I'm going to Malachor V to finish what I've started. If I fail you'll know soon enough, and you'll be too busy fighting to think about Revan, I assure you. However, if I succeed, I'll return here and we can discuss exactly what we expect to find when we track down Revan."

Bastila had gone white with rage. "You-"

Tiniat stood. "Those are my terms. The TSF can't spare the men it would take to detain me or my crew, if you're thinking of trying to stop me from leaving."

"I know," Onasi said dryly. He was furious, too, but a lifetime in the military had taught him how to deal with those who made him furious. "So that's it, then. If you succeed- if you _survive_- you'll come back?"

Tiniat nodded. "I'm curious about Revan, too, but the galaxy can only take things one at a time right now."

Bastila's fists were clenched in her lap. "And if you do not survive?"

"Then you will have to hunt down my body before Revan's. Either way, you'll get the Hawk."

Carth's chuckle was bitter. "In that case, I wish you a safe journey."

"Thank you. May the force be with you both."

Tiniat turned and left.

* * *

><p>She fell onto her bunk. Once, she woke when someone took off her boots and unbuckled her armor, but only long enough to help Mical and to crawl under the covers.<p>

When she woke she felt better, despite the throbbing of her arms and the way her mouth tasted like something had crawled inside it to die. The door to the starboard quarters had been left open.

She could hear Atton and Mira speaking in the main hold. Mical was dead asleep in his bunk.

Visas was sitting up in hers, veil pooled in her lap.

Tiniat rose and brushed off her robes. Mical had helpfully left her boots and a fresh pair of socks in an obvious spot, as well as bandages and a sealed packet of Kolto.

Tiniat loosened the top of her robe, letting it slide off her arms and hang around her waist. She began to unwrap her bandages.

"Are you alright?" She asked Visas quietly.

"I do not know," Visas admitted.

"You can stay here," Tiniat offered. "Find your life, now that-"

"No," Visas snapped. "I swore I would follow you, and I will. At least until your master lies dead as well."

Tiniat focused on her arms for a moment. The damage that had been done to them when the bridge of the Ravager exploded was healing quickly.

"Thank you," Tiniat murmured.

"There is nothing you need to thank." Visas replaced her veil and crossed to Tiniat's bunk. Together, they healed her arms completely.


End file.
